Thursday, June 28, 2012

North Carolina and Georgia meet Arkansas...

I'm late in posting these pictures but I just had to blog about our North Carolina/Georgia Fam coming to town!

I lost my camera battery before they came to town so I had no camera. I also took lots of pics with my phone and wouldn't you know it - my iphone died (as in not coming on ever again) and I lost everything.

My friends, Chad, Faith, & Jenna came to town a couple of days early so we could visit and they could meet the girls. I was excited for Faith to finally meet her namesake. :) I love this girl like a sister and I can't wait for her babies to arrive in November!! I've already claimed them as my niece/nephew. I'm guessing she's having one of each or two girls. Amelia says two girls and says it with such confidence, I'm starting to believe her. We will know soon!!

Watching Faith and Chad with the girls just warmed my heart. They're going to be the best parents. They've waited so long for this and I have no doubt they will cherish every single second of parenthood. That's one of the positives of infertility. I can say that because I've been there. You're just so thankful to finally have your miracle baby - every moment is precious. Poopy diapers, sleep deprivation, not showering for days...it's all just a huge blessing in an infertile's eyes. ha!

Sweet JennaBabe. I love this girl. I like to surround myself with folks who make me laugh and this girl is funny. She makes me laugh so hard. She's so tiny and cute. I'm going to find her a handsome Arkansan and move her next door to me. Chad and Faith are going to have to move here too, once the babies arrive. I haven't told them yet. Hope they're ok with that.

Amelia loves to have company. She was quite happy to have these guys over. She's bossy and they did whatever she wanted to do. At one point she had Chad playing dress up and had JennaBabe playing ring-around-the-rosy in a shoe store...basically just making her "fall down" over and over in public. ha! They were awesome with her.

She keeps in touch with them through heytell. Girl loves some heytell.

Hillary and Sadie came over to visit as well. We love them. They're two of our faves. Hillary is another that makes me laugh. Here I am trying to look as petite as these three girls. Can I just say, every single blog friend I've met is tiny and petite!! My 5'9" self looks like a giant up to these girls. Next time the pics will be taken in a sitting position. ha!

We had the best time with Chad, Faith, & JennaBabe. We ate at some yummy places like Big Orange and Faded Rose while they were here.

We also did a little maternity clothes shopping with Faith and it was so fun. We made her do a fashion show for us. She has the cutest baby bump.

They also had the privilege of witnessing Amelia shoplift.

I wish I could say it was the first and last time but it wasn't.

It was the second time.

And there has since been a third!

So far she has taken dog biscuits, children's books, and parenting magazines.

We don't even have a dog, she owns plenty of books, but I probably should have kept the parenting magazines...there could have been a good article about helping your klepto toddler overcome her problem before it's too late.

I need to get a double stroller soon. She picks things up and sticks them in the basket below and I never see her! I get to the parking lot and her items fall out on the pavement as I'm putting away the stroller.

So embarrassing.

We're trying to explain to her that she can't take things without paying for them. I joke that this isn't surprising since she's a PK. (totally kidding)

So anyway...back to the real reason these three fabulous people actually came to Arkansas!!

It was for our friend, Caroline. She got married on June 14th, Caroline moved to Arkansas last year and what do you know...God had her sweet husband just waiting on her!!

This was right before her Dad walked her down the aisle. They played a song he wrote especially for Caroline for her wedding day. I bawled like a baby. Her Dad had major surgery on his head just a few weeks before the wedding. We prayed he would not only be able to walk Caroline down the aisle but would be able to enjoy the evening with his sweet girl. God answered our prayers! And even better...the doctors said they removed all of the cancer!!

Caroline's beautiful Mother, Robin. Love her.

I just love Caroline's story and loved watching God work over the past year. I have never seen a more excited bride than Caroline. She just made everyone smile from ear to ear the entire time.

I loved her dress...she looked gorgeous.

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The wedding location was so pretty.

The ceremony was outside of this pretty barn and the reception was inside.

Ohmygosh, that sounds like so much fun (meeting the bloggers and going to the wedding)!

The toddler shoplifting, notsomuch! But... hahahaaaa! That picture of her with the bags and the expression on her face is a hoot!

DO NOT buy a Jeep double tandem stroller. I hate ours with a giant passion. It is heavy and horrible to open and put away, and it steers like a... I can't even think of anything as bad. Well... maybe those giant carts at Target. Those are pretty hateful.

Seriously, I might buy a cheapy side by side umbrella stroller soon. And that is saying a lot because I am becoming pretty anti-baby paraphernalia lately.

Well... except for my back yard, which is now overtaken by plastic toys. haha!

I love coffee with all my heart. I love to spend time with my girls in the kitchen. I love date nights with my guy. This is where I write about my faith, my wonderful family, my love for food, and all the fun that life brings our way!